A Long Way Down
by SSJAniFan
Summary: One Shot, Rated T for suicide! What if Yugi had not been able to stop his Celtic Guardian from destroying Kaiba's Blue Eyes in time?


A LONG WAY DOWN

By SSJAniFan

Kazuki Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh. I'm just borrowing for this fic.

This borrows events from both the anime and the manga.

It had come down to this. Yugi Mutou and Seto Kaiba were finally down to their last chunks of LP, and so far, Yugi had the winning edge. Kaiba's so-called Blue Eyes"Ultimate," Dragon was dying. Already one of the heads was gone, destroyed by Yugi's Celtic Guardian. It seemed that Yugi had his victory assured.

Seto looked out across the tower that he and his rival were dueling on, seeing the cool, calm look on his opponent's face, almost taunting him. It wasn't fair! He had put everything on the line this time! He had built the most powerful deck he could have imagined, one that could take out nearly any foe. He had defeated countless opponents in his life… yet the one time he really needed all of his skills, they were failing him. 'Why,' he thought to himself grimly. 'Why am I being mocked like this? Why have I come so close to finally rescuing Mokuba, only to lose him?'

"It's your turn, Kaiba! Draw a card and make a move!" Yugi's sudden yell shook Seto out of his thought. He once again faced Yugi head on. Seeing that look on Yugi's face, confident about how he would surely win, made Seto's blood boil. No. He wasn't going to lose. He WAS heading inside that castle, dammit, even if he had to bend the rules. If this had just been an ordinary duel, he may, MAY, have been able to take his loss with little complaint. But this wasn't an ordinary duel. Lives were at stake. And Seto knew that he would not let Mokuba be the victim here. He thought of how up until only a day ago, he himself had been nothing but a vegetable strapped into a wheelchair as a result of Yugi's Mind Crush. Although he was now fully recovered, he could still remember the darkness that he had been trapped in for what seemed like an eternity. The darkness, the emptiness, the helplessness….. truly, even Hell itself would probably preferable after what had happened to him. And no doubt after Pegasus stole his brother's soul, leaving his body a near-lifeless shell and his mind trapped within a card, Mokuba was no doubt experiencing something very similar. And Seto would die before he let his brother suffer like that.

And with that, Seto made his decision. "There's nothing I can do Yugi. I have nothing in my hand that can stop you. I'll leave my Blue Eyes on the field."

Yugi looked shocked at first, wondering if his rival was actually admitting defeat. But Seto wasn't done yet.

"But DON'T get me wrong. I am getting inside Pegasus's castle, one way or the other." With that, Seto began to move backwards. He kept backing up until he reached the edge of the tower. He stood up on one of the ledges.

"Kaiba, what do you think you're doing! Get off of there! One wrong step and you'll…"

"Fall? That's the plan," Seto replied with a small chuckle. "You see, I am going to win this duel no matter what. And I believe that even you won't be able to make the next attack… unless of course you want to see me jump off this ledge to my death."

This produced looks of surprise from everyone. Yugi faced Seto, trying to make sure he heard everything correctly. "Kaiba…. What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that if you carry out with this next attack, I am going to jump. This is one duel we both have to win, you for your grandfather and me for my brother. The only question is…. Who's willing to risk everything?" Seto then finally drew his next card. Raise Dead. "I now play Raise Dead to revive the Blue Eyes head your Celtic Guardian destroyed." A new Blue Eyes head grew from where original middle had had been. However, this one had the original attack of 3000. "Since this Blue Eyes head is part of my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon and I already passed its chance to attack, I'll have to wait until next turn. Well then Yugi, make your move." Seto waited to see what Yugi could do. Hopefully his instincts would be right. They had to be. For Mokuba's sake.

Yugi faced his rival, still wondering if he was bluffing. A few minutes passed, as everyone waited to see how Yugi would react. Eventually, the duelist looked Kaiba square in the face. "Kaiba…. I've taken on every challenge I've had before…. And I shall take this one on as well! Celtic Guardian, attack!"

The elf knight raised its sword and charged towards the dragon behemoth. As what seemed like a millennia passed by, a voice rang out, "Yugi! Call it off! You can't take this chance!" This belonged to Yugi's friend Anzu. He turned, and from the look of it, seemed to take in what she was saying.

"She's right," he muttered under his breath. He then quickly turned back and faced the area. Only a few seconds were left. "Celtic Guardian, stop!"

It was too late. The knight was already about to attack the Blue Eyes. Kaiba tensed as he realized that his only way of winning now was a matter of a one-in-three chance. 'Attack the middle head, dammit! Attack the middle hea…'

In a few seconds, it was over. The Celtic Guardian stood victorious over the now dismembered right head of the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Kaiba felt helpless as his Lifepoints reduced to 0, meaning Yugi had won yet again. As the realization of defeat began to sink in, Seto slumped to his knees. Yugi, however, had not hesitated to run up to his rival. "Kaiba," the teen yelled. "Kaiba! Are you okay? Please, answer me! Kaiba! Kaiba!"

Seto, however, wasn't listening. In fact, he was barely conscious of anything going on right now. All he could see in his mind was that same image he had imagined when the Blue Eyes had started to decay. The same image of Mokuba being dissolved, of a younger, 10-year-old version of himself failing to save his brother, and of that younger version of him giving him that angry stare, one that nearly pierced his heart.

He had failed.

Yugi had won…. And he had failed.

Seto looked on as the younger him began to cry…. Yet all the while did not quit giving him that stare of anger and hate. "This….. this is all your fault!"

"W-what?"

"You heard me! Everything that's happened here is your fault, Seto Kaiba! Because of you, Mokuba is gone! You betrayed him, you used him, and you left him to die! All for own selfish gain! And all the while Mokuba was always by your side! He never betrayed you, or turned against you! And you repaid him by leaving him stuck in Pegasus's control forever! None of this would have happened if it hadn't have been for you!"

These words shook Seto to the core. He tried to think of something, anything, to defend himself against, but all he could think of was how right this younger version of himself was. He had used Mokuba for his own gains in order to gain KaibaCorp stock. And he had betrayed Mokuba to his near-death only a few short months ago during his failed revenge plan on Yugi.

"He's right….. my god, he's right…….." And with this horrible realization in his mind, Seto Kaiba, the former ruthless Duel Monsters Champion and KaibaCorp CEO did something he could never remember doing in his life. He shed tears.

"Kaiba…. Are you really crying," Yugi asked his rival, still trying to shake him back to reality.

"What's wrong with him, Yugi? Since you defeated him he's acting like the world just ended," Honda spoke.

"Yeah… he may be a scumbag, but even I'm starting to wonder what's wrong with him," Jonouchi added.

"I honestly don't know," Yugi replied. "Can someone go up to the castle's entrance and see if they can get some help?"

Hearing this, Ryou Bakura spoke up. "I'll go."

"I'll go with you," Honda said.

"Eh, I got nothing better to do. Guess I'll tag along with you two," Jonouchi muttered. The three of them then took off to the castle's entrance. Yugi continued to try and get some response out of Seto.

"Kaiba… please…. Give me a sign… let me know you're still…."

"Yugi….."

Yugi turned. This had been the first time Kaiba had talked since the duel ended.

"Yugi…. Promise me…."

"Promise you what, Kaiba?"

"I…. I've lost…. There's no way I can face Pegasus…. You're the only one who can save Mokuba now…."

"Well, yes… I'll defeat Pegasus and save both Mokuba and my grandfather…. But… what about you…"

"I don't deserve to see him……..."

"Kaiba, he's your brother," Anzu pleaded.

"No… I've done some… bad things…. In life…. Even to my brother…. I nearly killed him because he lost to you in that Capsule Monster Chess match… tell me, is that something a caring brother would do?"

"Kaiba, you were different back then… you were still clouded by all the anger from Gozaburo…."

"It doesn't matter…. Even then, I'm sure a part of me did have some control over what was happening back then… it doesn't excuse what I've done…"

Kaiba stood up. He took the 5 star chips that Pegasus had given him. He put them in Yugi's hand.

"These are yours now."

He turned around and faced the ocean from the edge of the tower. He knew he still had one thing to live up to, not just because he said so, but because if Yugi indeed saved his brother, that would free him. Although it would not be any sort of atonement for himself, if he was gone, that would hopefully mean that his brother could hopefully lead himself to a better life, one where the darkness of the Kaiba family hopefully wouldn't involve Mokuba any more.

"Kaiba…."

Kaiba turned and faced Yugi one final time.

"Yugi… there's also one final thing you can do for me."

"What?"

"If… when… you save him….. Please… tell Mokuba that…. I'm sorry. For everything"

Yugi realized what Seto was going to do in that instant. He attempted to try and stop Seto from reaching the edge. "KAIBA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DON'T---"

But it was too late. Seto ran to the other edge of the tower and jumped from it to the crashing waves below. Before he reached oblivion, one final thought entered his mind.

'Mokuba….. forgive me…..'


End file.
